Tuesday - May 01, 2012

Fantasy World Engine - Development Update

by Dhruin, 12:48

OK, this isn't so much an update for Knights of the Chalice 2 / Fantasy World Engine as a heads-up for those who missed what is going on. Heroic Fantasy Games has updated their front page and, as fans will know, we're waiting for them to finish work on an RTS before getting back to the good stuff:

Since I'm cleaning up my website's files I might as well update this (very irregular) announcements page. Considering how the Fantasy World Engine is such a huge project, I've set myself a shorter-term goal, to make a 2D real-time strategy game with a map and campaign editor.

I've worked on this for a good while now. All I have left to code is the function of buildings, win and lose conditions, some interface for game and campaign saving and loading, a minimap, help files, and all of the artificial intelligence.

And after that I'll have to paint a set of good maps with the editor, playtest them, finalise Windows, Linux and Mac versions, update the website, release the game, do the marketing, and then finally I may be able to work on Fantasy Work Engine - with the advantage of having more experience and a lot of flexible classes ready for re-use.

Monday - November 21, 2011

Knights of the Chalice - KOTC 2 Update

* from procedural programming to object oriented (OO is much more suitable for a large project, I now realise this)

* from a Windows-specific development library (DirectX) to a cross-platform library (probably SFML) that works on Linux, Mac and Windows. It has been said that 50% of indie RPG sales are Mac versions.

* from a low resolution window to high resolution (preferably a 1024x768 window) - this means starting from scratch on graphic assets. Something approaching the graphic quality of Temple of Elemental Evil for dungeon tiles would be ideal. The game would still use 2D tiles and sprites and the same kind of Ultima-VII perspective. Initially I was more in favour of keeping the low resolution. But it's probably worth trying to get graphics closer to TOEE or Eschalon in order to widen the audience.

* together with the graphic change, it will be good to change from MIDI music to CD-quality music in ogg format.

* from a focus on a single large adventure to a module editor that could be used to create small modules intended for player characters of a certain level. After finishing a module, the same player characters could be transferred into another module where they can continue adventuring and levelling up. Just like the classic D&D modules. Some features will go away, like listening at the door, as it makes level design slower without bringing much benefit.

Knights of the Chalice - Review @ DIYGamer

Knights of the Chalice is a truly old-school RPG. Plot and characterization get pushed aside in favor of assembling a party of heroes (4, in this case, with no NPCs to recruit, or replacements to draft) of your own design and going on a vaguely defined quest to explore dungeons, discover evil plots, beat up evildoers in complex turn-based combat, hoard loot, an do it again and again until your four novice heroes could casually trade blows with the deities of the realm.

A snip about the combat:

KotC is a game of tactical turn-based RPG combat. Played on a grid representing five-foot spaces, positioning is key as each character can take a free swing at anyone trying to muscle past them. While the game does, effectively, only contain the rules for basic combat, arcane spellcasting and clerical miracles, it has the full rules pertaining to these three core pillars of D&D gameplay. Want to have a warrior shoulder-barge an orc out of the way, then wrestle an evil wizard to the ground in order to stop him from casting spells? Easy, so long as the dice fall in your favor, and every action does have a handy percentage chance (based on all the virtual dice involved combined) of success shown so you know the odds.

A snip from the conclusion:

For better or worse, Knights of the Chalice is a game with a clear audience in mind, and it achieves the goals it sets itself quite admirably, recreating – and in many respects improving on – the nostalgic feeling of old-school RPG adventuring. I’ll admit that aside from some interface quirks and some mild frustration, I’ve had a romping great time with this game so far and will likely go back to playing it more as soon as I’m done writing, but I find it hard to earnestly recommend it to anyone but seasoned old-school RPG fans with a little extra money to burn.

Monday - September 06, 2010

Knights of the Chalice - Review @ RPG Codex

by Dhruin, 20:43

The Codex has a review of Knights of the Chalice, the outstanding indie OGL game. There's some criticism of omissions and balance but, overall, the author enjoyed it. A sample:

Next thing that deserves mentioning is the enemy AI, as it really is top notch. It adapts to your party tactics and line-up well, effectively uses spell combinations and abilities. For example, is everyone in your party engulfed in web? You’re bound to have a fireball going your way to achieve extra fire damage. Some of your party members are protected by death ward? Archers with slaying arrows will be less likely to target them. It’s also common for pretty much your whole party to be completely disabled, due to good choosing of priorities and abilities among the enemy. The knight? Grappled and pinned by a giant. Wizard? Counterspelled. Cleric? Three archers are ready against his casting of spells. Second knight? Charmed. Have fun, you’re doomed.

Wednesday - March 03, 2010

Knights of the Chalice - Interview @ RPG Codex

9. I'd wager for a lot of CRPG players it's a major part of the fun to build up different parties, check out different character builds and test them in challenging TB combat. Do you plan to include more classes, races, spells in a possible sequel and if yes, which ones?

Yes, definitely. However, the game is still at a very early stage of development; so don't take what I'm telling you now as if it was written in stone. I have been planning to add the Barbarian and Paladin classes for a long time now. They should not be very hard to add. Psionicist is another one I would like to add. It will be much more difficult to add, but the interesting powers and power point system can make it worthwhile, I think. A Bard class would be interesting too, not like the D&D class, but more like the Bard's Tale Bard - a fighter with a small selection of magic songs with effects applying to everyone in the group. Other possible classes, with a lower priority, include the Assassin, Monk, Psionic Warrior, Archer and Druid.

In terms of races, I am now planning to have the Human, Mul, Dwarf, Elf (in two varieties), Halfling, Kobold, Thri-Kreen, Half-Giant, Centaur and Draconian (in several varieties, each with a different breath weapon).

Regarding spells, yes there will be changes there too. Ideally all spells should be useful at any level. For example, Magic Missile scales up with your level, but Sleep is useful only at very low levels. So Sleep is a good candidate for change. Grease and Mirror Image are good candidates for new spells. There will be a set of psionic powers, including one that makes the target's hands limp, disarming them for a number of rounds.

Monday - February 01, 2010

Knights of the Chalice - v1.24 Update

- When targeting damage spells, like Fireball, the expected damage for each target will be displayed. The expected damage assumes that the target does not resist (no spell resistance) and that it fails its saving throw. For example a fireball cast at level 7 deals 7d6 points and the expected (average) value is 24. Cast on a Frost giant, it's 36. The game will display "Immune" or "Reverse" if the creature is immune to that spell or is healed rather than damaged by the spell.

- When targeting non-damage spells with a saving throw, like Confusion, the chance of affecting each target (by overcoming spell resistance and having the target fail its saving throw) will be displayed. However, spells requiring a ranged touch or melee touch will still display the chance to succeed on the touch attack.

Sunday - November 29, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - v1.23 Update

by Skavenhorde, 01:06

There is a tiny update for Knights of the chalice bringing it to version v1.23. The changes include:

New version 1.23:

- In the full game, fixed a bug in Taneliz's casino script.- In the demo, fixed a dialogue-repetition bug that occurred if you talked to the spider after defeating the bandits and not before.- Changing the name of a character will automatically update names in the character's description.

Tuesday - October 27, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - v1.22 Update

by Skavenhorde, 09:16

There is a tiny update to Knights of the Chalice. It mostly deals with the new turn undead action recently added to the game. Details of the upgrade:

1.22: Some minor changes.- Turn undead will not appear in the list of cleric actions when no undead creatures are involved in the fight.- A grapple will be automatically broken when it involved a dominated character, and the domination effect expired.- The options to attack, bullrush and grapple will appear when a character is adjacent to a confused ally, not just when adjacent to enemies.- Cancelling turn undead will display “cancelling action”, not “cancelling spell”.

Tuesday - October 20, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - Tips & Strategies

by Skavenhorde, 17:05

Rampant Coyote has a few tips on how to play KOTC. His #7 and #11 tips are very helpful to anyone who is thinking about playing KOTC. Summon Elemental can be easily overlooked when you get access to better spells, but it is still helpful since it scales to your level.

#7 - The AI enemies really, really like to attack your wizard(s). Hey, when I'm fighting groups of bad guys, I go after their wizards first, too. You can either grouse about it, or take advantage of it. I try to position my wizard defensively so that enemies have to approach and go around my other characters (thus drawing attacks from readied actions and attacks of opportunity). It helps to load up the wizard with good defensive gear as early as possible. Bracers of armor, rings of protection, cloaks of blur, and rings of fire (or ice) to defend against those pesky enemy wizard spells and dragon breath weapons.

#11 - Speaking of good low-level spells - Summon Elemental is a 1st level divine spell that scales with the caster. These have been key to winning many combats for me, and they are just as useful at first level as at 13th (and I assume at 20th and above, but I'm not there yet). I'd say Cure Light Wounds and one kind of summoning spell should be your very first spell selections. You'll eventually want at least two elementals eventually (or you'll be hating life when your fire elemental HEALS an Iron Golem).

Saturday - October 17, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - Hits v1.21

by Dhruin, 06:19

Knights of the Chalice has hit v1.21, offering a feature I've been waiting for - Turn Undead. Here are the notes:

1.21:- Added Turn Undead (to use it with your saved games, have the party rest first)- Added new spell animations for Bless, Bane and Freezing Sphere.- Fixed a AI problem with the Cure and Inflict spell-like abilities, and other problems with the spell Invisibility Purge and the Invisibility condition.- Fixed a few remaining display issues with the new graphic mode.- Fixed “webbed” condition (and other conditions) not disappearing after a character is killed or knocked out.- Putting on a spider cloak will remove the webbed and entangled conditions immediately.- Added a message in the spell casting screen reminding about Scribe Scroll, once all your high-level spell slots are exhausted.- Corrected Harm and Heal so that they don’t do more than 150 points of damage or healing, or 75 points when saved against.- Wearing a spider cloak will allow to charge into a web. Creatures with fire immunity will also be able to charge into a wall of fire, and creatures who can see through darkness will be able to charge through darkness areas.- Dead or petrified spell casters in the party will not be able to learn scrolls, use scrolls or wands, or craft scrolls and magic items.- Effects from Iron body will disappear at the end of combat.- Multiple ranged attacks conducted in melee range will trigger multiple AOOs.

Other notes• Checked Still spell with a 2-handed weapon and while grappled, didn’t see anything wrong there.• Tried the battle with the salamander Pharixx but didn’t see any problem with his spell count (Archangel, do you have any extra details on how it happened? Was he muted/grappled/silenced/interrupted by a counterspell or ready versus spell action?).

Monday - September 28, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - v1.20 Update

by Dhruin, 11:36

BlueSalamander let us know he has updated Knights of the Chalice to v1.20. Here are the notes:

1.20:1) Attacks will be recorded as “Attack Bonus + D20 Result = Attack Roll” in the rolls history window2) Added a new high resolution text font for the help entries, load screen and rolls history window.3) Added new options regarding random encounters, skipping after left-clicking the enemy, and critical hits.4) Corrected a spelling mistake “tresspassing”5) Fixed the inventory display bug and the other minor display issues associated with the new 960x720(b) mode.6) Fixed bug when talking to the bear right after resting.

I’d like to:- add a simplified Turn Undead for clerics.- add a new spell animation for Bless.

Tuesday - September 22, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - v1.19 Update

by Dhruin, 13:03

Knights of the Chalice just keeps rolling along. A new resolution is the headline addition for v1.19:

Version 1.19:1) Pin will expire at the start of the grappler’s round, not at the start of the pinned creature’s round.2) Added a new graphic mode (960x720 with the world and characters printed in small size). It’s a good mode, giving a more strategic view. To use it, select 960x720 (b) in the window’s menu bar.3) Changes to the AI: enemies will sometimes take a five-foot step during a surprise round, changed cleric priorities so that they are more likely to cast mass cure & mass heal spells, clerics won’t delay or ready versus approach when they could be casting a spell, enemy clerics will avoid friendly undead when targeting mass cure & mass heal spells (I did the changes using the ultra-ending battle as reference).4) The game won’t allow removing a worn health amulet if the HP loss would render the character unconscious.5) Fixed problem with break free from a web when wielding a flaming weapon in the off hand, and fixed another issue that occurred when the use of break free would trigger an AOO.6) Trolls who delay their turn will not regenerate two times.7) Added a level-up sound that plays after a character has reached the next level.8) Added a music that plays when the party is around a campfire. Sound & music graciously provided by Nino Rajacic (http://www.ninorajacic.co.nr).

Other notes:-Regarding iron golems getting temporary HPs from Fireballs and other fire spells, that’s normal behaviour for the game.-Casting mass heal/mass cure on friendly undead does damage them, so nothing wrong there.-Checked the jewels in Taneliz. They are all single-item only, so nothing wrong there.-Didn't see any problem with deactivating x2 walk speed.Coming soon:-high resolution text font for the small text used in the help entries.-perhaps a new spell animation for the bless spell.

Sunday - September 13, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - v1.18 Update

1) Corrected the text about the dragon’s key.2) Disallowed dismiss elemental if the elemental is dominated/controlled.3) Pressing E will pop up the initiative list window if the combat window was closed.4) When swapping items from a character to another, the game will try to stack similar items on top of each other before displaying “backpack full”.5) The inventory screen will also display the character’s class and level.6) It will be possible to target confused allies and confused party members, since they can be dangerous to the rest of the party.7) Few changes to surrounding AI, cleric AI, and bull rush AI (AI will bullrush into darkness squares too).8) Fixed a rare bug which was due the fact that the game was loading characters before the weapons and not the reverse.9) Removed a source of slowdown when attacking with the rolls-history window open.10) Added an option to display the text in low-resolution, as requested by some.11) The game will allow shooting and spellcasting towards enemies inside the fog of war (provided you’re not out of range and the line of sight is unbroken).12) The journal entry obtained from Markus in Corinth will be marked as completed when you receive it, if you have already been to the orc fort by that time.13) Slight changes to the sprite for wall of fire and silence.14) Fixed an infrequent bug when casting wall of fire and you’ve been interrupted by an archer.15) Fixed an infrequent bug which created freezes.16) Corrected the damage-penalty information text for silver weapons.17) When meeting the Slaver Lords in the company of Taneliz’s Commander and Lieutenant, the Lieutenant will not sound the alarm (they already know you’re there).18) Corrected a dialogue with the Jail Master in Taneliz that could be exploited for XP.19) You will get two Scorching Rays from level 7 and three from level 11.

Monday - September 07, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - v1.17 Update

by Dhruin, 12:55

Two small updates for Knights of the Chalice over last couple of days:

Version 1.17:

1) Negative levels will decrease all saving throws, as they should.2) Moved Load/Save descriptions a bit to the left in the load/save screen.3) Fixed a broken link “Weakness” in the description for Polymorph Fire giant/Frost giant.4) Hyperlinks in spell descriptions will not be printed with all-capitals anymore.5) A cleric will be able to dismiss the elemental he summoned as a move equivalent action.

Things I may do in later updates:- redraw the small font in higher resolution- add another windowed mode 960x720, with smaller sprites and a larger area viewable.

1) Scribe Scroll will be the first feat suggested by the game for a cleric.2) When selecting a feat at level up, the list will be displayed in alphabetical order.3) The feats and abilities screen will display in alphabetical order (If there are other places where this would be useful, let me know).4) When trading with a friendly cleric, there will be an option to purchase healing/restoration/resurrection services. Just click on the red cross near your character’s name. This will be helpful for Ironman games and games without a cleric. Note: for resurrection, the cleric will use Raise Dead so you may lose some experience points.5) Cancelling a character’s spellcasting will not scroll back to the acting character.

Friday - September 04, 2009

RPGWatch Feature: Knights of the Chalice Interview

by Myrthos, 22:38

An interview with lead developer Pierre Begue about Knights of the Chalice was conducted by our resident forum member screeg, with talk about the past, the game and future plans. Check it all out here.

screeg: KotC offers little (nothing) in the way of hand-holding, and immediately plunges the player head-first into the icy and turbulent waters of challenging, turn-based tactical combat. In my opinion, this is your single greatest departure from recent role-playing games. What led you to take this route?

Pierre: Combat is an essential part of KotC. The game doesn't beat around the bush; if you like a good dose of tactical combat within your RPGs then you will like the game. By hand-holding I suppose you mean battles that you cannot lose. If you can't lose, where's the fun? As a player, I enjoy a game more when I can see that my actions are influencing the outcome. Some of my favourite games are difficult from the very beginning. In Interplay's Bard's Tale, your level-1 party can be wiped out by a group of barbarians only a few steps away from the adventurer's guild. In Dark Sun Shattered Lands, you start the game facing monsters in a gladiatorial arena. Should you try to escape, a large group of enemy guards awaits you.

Wednesday - September 02, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - v1.15 Released

1) fixed a glitch with spell effect animations2) fixed missing “one-half” icon in the game options screen, representing one half of maximum HP3) Added Shift+A and Shift+S shortcuts to attack or shoot with player control returned after each attack.4) The expanded tooltip will correctly show whether you’re going to flank the target creature (v1.14 has an error).

Knights of the Chalice - Reaches v.1.14

Version 1.14: Reminder: you will find the download link in the email you received after purchasing the game. This upgrade will not damage your saved games.

1) Any damage from Finger of Death, Mind Blast, Slay Living and Greater Disintegrate will awaken a sleeping creature, if it doesn’t kill it outright.2) Fixed a minor bug where an enemy awakening a sleeping ally could still take a double move action.3) Added a shortcut to sell items when trading: press “S” while mousing over an item and it will be sold.4) Added mentions of the U and S shortcuts in the readme.txt and in-game help.5) corrected acient => ancient in character description.6) fixed a bug mentioned by Xalles with spells that have repeating effects, like magic missile.7) Spellcasters will be a bit more unpredictable with their use of the Dispel spell.8) Slightly increased big red’s use of the breath attack.9) Creatures will avoid insanely long paths to reach the party.10) The AI will try to surround the player characters and avoid situations where one creature blocks others.

1.131) Fixed a minor bug in the inventory with item stacks.2) Fixed the issue with gnolls in the Hill Giant Castle’s underground.3) Fixed some more upper case/lower case display problems.4) Fixed characters walking underneath junk in the Undead Tower.5) Fixed the bug with picking gold stack when party is out of range.6) The game will properly target enemies even if they’re standing on the same square as a non-combatant.7) The game will not allow to add Flaming on top of a Flaming Burst weapon, Frost on top of Icy Burst, Shock on top of Shock Burst.8) The game will allow casting Freedom of Movement on PCs at any time in combat.9) The game will allow scrolling slightly beyond the map’s edges.10) Teleport spell will not work in the orc stockade unless the gate has been reopened. Once this is done, random monsters may appear in the upper level.11) Added an expanded tooltip presenting the main factors in chance to hit.12) The player characters will not be able to take a five foot step in areas of tall grass.13) Quoris will cast a few pre-determined spells at the beginning of the ultra-ending battle.

Sunday - August 23, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - v1.12 Update

by Dhruin, 10:49

Knights of the Chalice keeps rolling along at a fast clip, with v1.12 (and 1.11) released since I last checked the site:

1.12:1) “I” will close the Inventory and “M” will close the local map. Added mentions of this in the help.2) Chance to hit will not be displayed when targeting cure spells on a party member.3) In the demo, when mousing over an item’s icon, the tooltip will display “Push Space”.4) Dragging items will not hide the names of the party members in the top-right corner.5) The game’s window will be centered after switching from full screen.6) The name of composite bows will be displayed in yellow.7) fixed a slow down in the journal’s pending quests screen.8) Added an option for half of full hit points at level up. Added mention of this in the help.9) The game will save the out-of-combat cursor state (talk or look).10) The critical range displayed in the weapon description screen will take account of the Keen enchantment.11) reloading a heavy crossbow, coup de grace and break free will be allowed when a character’s round is restricted to a standard action (i.e. when slowed). You won’t be allowed to cast full-round spells or take other full round actions, though.12) Description edits will be lost when switching to another screen and you didn’t press Enter.13) Changed icon of +1 Armor in demo13) Touch attack help entry will display the list of spells requiring touch attacks.14) Editing the name and description of characters and weapons will allow the use of lower case characters.15) Tried to make the text a bit more coherent in terms of upper/lower case and to have more stuff printed in lower case.

To do next:- AI improvements (dispel behaviour, surrounding behaviour, avoiding long paths)- improved tool tip showing things like flanking, cover, etc (with an option to turn it On or Off)

1.11:1) fixed an issue with clicking on the help entries for weapons from the main menu.2) fixed a problem in Taneliz when a golem appears at the gate.3) fixed the problem in 1.10 with multiple attacks.

Friday - August 21, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - reaches v1.10

Blue Salamander gave us word that version 1.10 is available with a new text font. here is the full update information:

Added the new text font.

Attempting to pick up items that are not in range from the party will prompt the party to move towards them (and pick once they are in range).

When targeting a touch attack spell or ranged touch attack spell, the chance to hit will be displayed.

When mousing over an enemy who can be reached with a five foot step, and you have more than one attack available, the game will not suggest a charge but a five foot step + full attack. (Sometimes charge is possible even against enemies five foot away, but it’s not as good as taking a full attack).

Wednesday - August 19, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - -updated to v 1.09

Heroic Fantasy Games has cranked out another two updates since our last post, but as of yet no fix on the font. Here's the lowdown on versions 1.08 and 1.09:

1.08: This will not affect your saved games. Reminder: you will find the download link in the email you received after purchasing the game. This upgrade will not damage your saved games.

1) Mousing over one of the crafting actions while your character’s inventory is full will display a tooltip “No more inventory space”.2) Fixed magic missile problem in 1.07. It was due to a conflict with the recently-added “automatic end of turn” function. The game considered that the turn was done after the first missile (that’s why the problem occurred only after moving).3) Fixed the problem with missing attacks. Again, it was due to a conflict with the “automatic end of turn” function. I think the function is fine now, but if you experience further bugs, let me know and turn the function off until I fix them.4) Added Remove Curse to the list of spells that can be cast without being adjacent to the target outside combat.5) The game will not offer Weapon Finesse if you already have that feat.6) In the demo, given the Light spell to the cleric.7) Fixed the crash when stepping into stairway with the arrow keys in the mountain pass...8) Clicking on an out of range target while casting a magic missile that has more than 1 missile will not cancel the magic missile.

Version 1.09: This will not affect your saved games. Reminder: you will find the download link in the email you received after purchasing the game. This upgrade will not damage your saved games.

1) Fixed two problems in the final battle scripts.2) Fixed an incorrect value when upgrading a shield from fortification (medium) to fortification (strong).3) Fixed broken link to Spell Resistance help entry in the divine spell of Spell Resistance.4) Link in Cloak of Spell Resistance will link to Spell Resistance help entry rather than the spell of the same name.5) Right clicking “Forge Weapon” in the Crafting Selection screen will lead to the help entry for Forge Weapon feat.6) You will be able to wake up a sleeping dominated creature.

Sunday - August 16, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - v 1.07 Patch

by Magerette, 20:56

Forum member skavenhorde drops us a line to advise that the just-released Knights of the Chalice from Heroic Fantasy Games has an updated demo and patch, taking it to version 1.07. You can read the full changelog at their forums, but I'll reproduce it here as well:

The last version is 1.07. Reminder: you will find the download link in the email you received after purchasing the game. This upgrade will not damage your saved games.

Changes:1) Corrected the automatic end of turn function.2) When casting a mass cure spell outside combat, the party members will be redeployed so that everyone can be targeted by the spell.3) Casting Lesser Restoration, Remove Blindness, Restoration, and Remove Negative Levels outside combat won’t require to be adjacent to the recipient.4) Market price now displayed in the item list before picking up items.5) Items made in an exotic material are colour coded (green for Mithral, red for Adamantine, teal for Silver, grey for Cold Iron).6) Non-magic Masterwork items will be displayed with a “+”: “+Longsword”.7) Wands enchanted with a spell will display the number of charges in the icon’s corner.8) Craft Weapon won’t allow to set enchantments on a weapon that already has the same type of enchantment in a stronger form (for example putting SR 13 on a SR 15 weapon).9) Pushing “U” while mousing over a scroll or wand will trigger the Use action.10) Save bonuses in the character sheet show the total bonus (base save + ability modifier).11) Switched the cursor from pointing towards bottom left to top left. Also switched the target point from bottom left to top left when targeting a spell.12) Updated the help entry for Full Attack to clearly explain the difference between a full attack launched by just clicking an enemy, and a full attack launched by selecting the attack action in the combat menu (this option gives back control to the player after each attack).13) Movement by holding down the mouse button will not get stuck into walls.14) The party’s movement will not be interrupted by the mouse pointer passing over a creature or item stack (as long as the player is not moving the mouse).15) The game will not allow wearing a cloak of faith on top of adamantine armour (can’t combine damage reductions). By the way, you have awesome characters on your save #5, Xalles.16) Slight change in the position where the item box appears, perhaps more convenient.17) Fixed the bug with bows obtained from a random encounter turning into a club. It was because I forgot to transfer the ranged items from the random-encounter item list to the player’s item list. Note: if you have a saved game with such items, just drag them to the destroy button.18) Fixed the graphic bug with enchant wand. I forgot that you can enchant only with divine spells of up to level 4.19) Added the missing end-of-fight check after a spell like Control Person or Dominate Person wears off, and corrected an issue where the computer was controlling a player character on the round where the domination effect wears off.20) Reworked the way the AI casts cure and inflict spells as I noticed Draxx the vampire was using a Harm spell to heal himself for a few points rather than attempt to hurt the player for dozens of points. He will not make the same mistake again.21) Shifted the green and yellow arrows in the expected path a bit to the top and left so that they’re not hidden by walls.22) Fixed the villager who was hiding under a table.23) Fixed the broken links in the scrolls of Acid Burst and Greater Disintegration.24) For new users, the game will start in windowed mode 960x720 instead of full screen stretched.

I couldn’t reproduce the freeze in the house of jewels.Things I want to do next: the new text font and the auto-move to pick up out-of-range items.

Saturday - August 15, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - Hits v1.06

Note: in order to take a five foot step after a full round attack (and not have the computer automatically switch to the next character), don’t use left click on target to attack. Instead choose the Attack option in the menu (or use a keyboard shortcut). Left clicking an enemy is usually considered by the game to be a quicker option and it is assumed that the character will finish his round after the action.

Changes:

1) Fixed a rules compliance issue: a character should be able to take an equivalent move action (that is to say an action other than moving which takes as much time as moving up to the character’s speed), such as Use the inventory, after taking a five foot step (free action) and making a single attack (standard action).2) Added an option for automatic end of turn, as requested. If this option is on, the game will check after each action performed whether there’s anything more you could do and if not, it will automatically end the character’s turn. Examples: after moving and then attacking; moving and then using the inventory; performing a five foot step then some attacks and finding yourself without anymore enemies around you.3) Fixed a problem with casting from a scroll outside combat: the scroll was destroyed even when the spellcaster cancelled his spell.4) Improved the design of the scribe scroll and craft wand screens.5) Escape will bring up the menu screen even when the computer is playing.6) Added a button linking to the main help index in the title screen.7) Cure spells cast outside combat on a player character will not require the caster to be adjacent to the recipient.8) Fixed the issue when swapping characters: this issue was responsible for the bugs with Luminara targeting Kline as well as the double swapping issue. It was a small bit missing in the swapping code.9) Added Luminara and Elinor to the list of random female names. Cool names. PS: I enjoyed reading the personalised descriptions of Elinor’s swords.10) Fixed broken link in the Ghoul Touch spell description.11) Fixed the spelling of peeble to pebble in Magic Stone spell description.12) Damage dice now printed as “1D8” rather than “1D08” in the character sheet and inventory screen.13) Changed the way campfires are printed so that the contrast is higher.14) Added Movement by holding the Mouse button pressed.15) Fixed a big bug in the chronometer. Thanks for spotting that, I missed it earlier as I thought the reloading was cutting down time. Now displays both hours and minutes.16) The game will now save the cursor state (attack, shoot or observe) of each character at the end of their turn and resume it on their turn. Also saved in save games.17) Fixed a bug with Dexterity 0 when obtained from sleep. Being put to sleep (or pinned) reduces the dexterity to 0 but it should not “paralyze” a creature. It’s only when a character acquires dexterity zero from ability damage that he becomes paralyzed because of low dex.

Thursday - August 13, 2009

Knights of the Chalice Impressions @ Rampant Coyote

by Dhruin, 00:33

Jay Barnson has kicked up some impressions from the Knights of the Chalice demo:

The combats are challenging. You won't be hacking and slashing your way through 'em - at least not in the demo. Not only do you have to be pretty tactical with your positioning and spell use, but you also need to husband your resources a bit so that you not only survive this combat, but the next one you don't know anything about. In classic D&D style, you only recover spell points while resting (at a campfire, in this game), and so the whole resource-management between multiple combats thing is strongly in effect here.

Oh, and you'll have to deal with stuff like 5-foot moves (a free position adjustment you can take every round), attacks of opportunity, and so forth. The AI has to deal with it too. A nasty spider-like Aranachak has a number of spell-like abilities, and is constantly backing up a square each round to fireball, web, acid spray, and to heal itself. They know the tricks. It's not hard to imagine a devilish Dungeon Master on the other side of the screen, plotting out the moves to best screw over the players with otherwise "fair" fights.

Sunday - August 09, 2009

Knights of the Chalice Released

by Myrthos, 21:49

HeroicFantasyGames informed us of the Knights of the Chalice release, a 2D party-based fantasy RPG with a focus on tactical battles. More info can be found on their site where you can also download the demo.

Sunday - May 17, 2009

Knights of the Chalice - Interview @ RPG Codex

There was an interview earlier in the week at RPG Codex on Knights of the Chalice, an indie 2D turn-based RPG you may remember from a post a little while back. Here's a sample:

What kind of an experience are you looking to give: pure old-school turn-based combat, an in-depth story, exploration, or some combination of these?

It is firstly about good turn-based combat. This is achieved, hopefully, through the variety of combat situations (as the party may be ambushed, surprised, fighting with allies, etc) and the variety of opponents, magic spells and tactics. All enemies behave as a group and you will not be able to fight them one by one as in the Infinity Engine games. Dragons are my favourite enemy, from time to time they will reposition themselves in order to blast the party with their breath weapon.

This is also a game of exploration. There are no empty areas. You will discover treasure, decipher secret messages, find unexpected allies and trade with them, choose between factions, negotiate with enemies and expose traitors. It is through the actions of the player, and how he copes with combat encounters, that the storyline unfolds.

Monday - December 01, 2008

Knights of the Chalice - Gameplay Video

by Dhruin, 21:25

Knights of the Chalice is an indie 2D RPG "loosely based upon the Open Game Licence 3.5 (OGL)" that visually falls somewhere between Zelda and Ultima that we've reported on once before. Developer BlueSalamander from Heroic Fantasy Games dropped us a line to point out a new gameplay video they have on their forums.